The International Institute for Middle-East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) in Ljubljana has been regularly analyzing the events in the Middle East and the Balkans. IFIMES is analyzing the causes for the emergence of terrorism with an emphasis on the culture of hatred, ideological terrorism, school systems and the media.
The wave of terrorist attacks that have in May 2003 quite shaken the Middle east, is just a beginning of an outbreak of the »middle-eastern volcano«, in which no one will feel safe in the Middle East and in Europe. The American President George Bush has stated that the U.S.A. will be chasing the terrorists into every dark corner. The same terrorists that were mentioned by Bush, are now chasing the U.S.A. on every bright spot of the Middle East, which may occur in future in Europe as well. The terrorists for now are not considering attacks within the United States but will be attacking American interests in the Middle East and in Europe in order to drag Europe into something, Europe has no desire for, since Europe does not concur nor with the acts of America neither with the acts of the terrorists. There are many causes for terrorism. They originate from the known facts connected to the political systems, religious hierarchies and the overall social condition of the society in general. We are trying to analyze certain segments of this phenomenon, which will serve only as an introduction to further extensive analyzing of each particular segment.
1. THE CULTURE OF HATRED
When the culture of hatred reaches a peak in a certain society, then fascistoid political organizations, ready to exterminate whole ethnic or religious groups simply because they are not of their faith or race (an example of Germany and the Holocaust).
The same holds for the Middle East: within the atmosphere of hatred towards the regimes hatred towards the West has developed, especially towards the U.S.A., the only western super-power. Radical Islamic organizations across the Middle East that promote the idea of hatred and killing, were not born overnight and do not represent a kind of RE-action on the American politics towards the region. The European politicians would like to put all the blame exclusively on the U.S.A., but that theory is insufficient and ill intended.
Causes for the formation of such organizations go back to the time after WWII, when the European colonizers (Great Britain, France, Spain, etc.) left the Middle East and a political vacuum was created. Former colonizers relinquished the area into the hands of military juntas, tribal leaders and sheikhs and to presidents for life. And let’s not talk about the historical injustice done to several peoples, such as for example the Kurds, the Copts, the Eritreans, peoples of Southern Sudan, the Berbers, etc.). The condition of the Middle East after the WWII can be described in one word as disastrous. The Arabs were not only four times (in war) defeated by Israel, but the main blow came from the local leaders themselves, who returned their economies, educational system and social services to the level of the beginning of the century. These rulers have used the national treasuries foremost for internal wars against their own citizens. In such manner have for example Iraq, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Sudan, Algeria and others been building large mansions and palaces in period, when most of their citizens were unemployed without any social rights and benefits with in addition to that a totally inadequate educational systems. And it is this atmosphere of defeat that has been afterwards giving birth to radical Islamic organizations, which chose terrorism as a mean to achieve their dark goals. The place of formation of such organizations was mostly mosques and Islamic centers, financed with petrodollars. These organizations have afterwards very successfully entered the media, school system, arts and culture, etc. They are literally controlling the pace of these countries. Their power is deriving from the alliance with religious leaders and billions of dollars, though officially intended to humanitarian mission and purpose. Greatest encouragement for these organizations came with the victory of Khomeini Islamic revolution in Iran and the establishment of the Islamic republic in 1979. The leaders of Iran introduced a new political term: »the export of Islamic revolution«. Thus the goal of all these organizations everywhere where it was possible became the establishment of an Islamic state. This was necessarily followed by great conflict among these organizations and Arab leaders that were supported/abused by their western allies with a purpose of keeping quiet their peoples in order of preserving their own thrones.
Of course, a bloody countdown of the regimes against these organizations followed (in Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, Saudi Arabia). The terrorists have unilaterally declared a holly war against the new crusaders, being the West and of course against the USA as a symbol and a leader of the West. Unfortunately, the West tolerated their underground activities in the name of respecting the human rights. Al Kaida terrorists were preparing terrorist attacks on the U.S.A. on September 11th from London, Hamburg, Paris and Brussels and have by such passed all the limits of American tolerance. And not only towards such organizations, but also towards all the countries, that are in this or the other way supporting terrorism (US attack on Afghanistan and Iraq).
The optimists are saying that the terrorists are a minority, which is correct, but the question is raised, whether it wasn’t the minorities that have in the past planted a bomb here and there and whether it wasn’t the people that belonged to the minority, who toppled the government in the past through a military coup?
If we analyze the more recent history of the Middle East, we can see that the syndrome of radicalism is reoccurring within certain temporal and geographical intervals, when these ideas spread with speed and infect the whole area in the region. The governments in such cases deal with these groups ferociously, but only in a military sense. They therefore cut only the trunk without destroying the roots of these phenomena also on a scientific and sociological level. And therefore on these same »roots« again and again spring even worse groups, which are not hesitating in their choice of methods in fighting the governments only, but also the countries supporting these regimes, U.S.A. for instance.
2. IDEOLOGICAL TERRORISM
Things that occurred on September 11th 2002 in New York and later on, on Bali, in Mombassa, Riyadh, Casablanca, etc., without even mentioning the events in Israel, can calmly be called »ideological terrorism«. The roots of ideological terrorism are coming from several Islamic groups, such as BAATH in Iraq and Syria as an ideological-political movement and Al Kaida as a religious-political movement, originating in the Wahabite teachings. Not the least, to these we could add the untouchable divine cults of the presidents for life and kings (Iraq, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia, etc.).
Ideological terrorism deals violently with everyone that is trying to think differently than the system. Thus it is permitted to kill every converted Muslim – murted and to confiscate his property and already the liberal minded are considered converts, which is an abuse of the term. The ideological terrorism is describing every Christian as a crusader and every Jew as a Zionist, who needs to be killed.
According to the opinion of the International Institute IFIMES the dangerous ideas of the ideological terrorism cannot be rooted out with prison and death penalties, but only on the basis of a tolerant dialogue between the governments and the civil society organizations.
3. SCHOOL SYSTEM
The school system in every advanced country represents one of the pillars of national security. Progress in school system means progress in all areas of life. The data of the World Bank and UNESCO show that the Arab countries yearly spend for the educational system almost the same amount of money as the USA, Europe, Canada and Japan. The Americans spend 5.5% of their GNP on education, while the Arab countries, according to the data of the Arab League, spend 5.8% (exceptional are Morocco with 20% and Algeria with 30%). But the lack of proper planning brought to catastrophic results. For example, a quarter of a million of Egyptians with high education is unemployed! Similarly, in Saudi Arabia 20% of the citizens are without employment.
The institution for following the peace effects CMIP that is promoting peace and tolerance among nations and citizens analyzed the school books in Israel, Palestinian Autonomous Region, Egypt, Syria and in Saudi Arabia, came to a datum that most of these books describe Islam as the only true faith and that the West is responsible for all the failures of the Islamic world and that the danger is coming from the western cultures and western ideological influence. The school texts are the most important means with which every nation not only transmits the nurture, but the whole value system of the younger generation. Here we can see how the roots of terrorism develop - grow actually in schools, where the first recruitment of the recruits - future terrorists occurs.
4. THE MEDIA
Illiteracy in the Middle East is experiencing a terrible growth and the number of illiterate people is exceeding 65 million inhabitants. Another interesting and as catastrophic fact is that less and less literate people read newspapers and thus know less and less about the events outside their own countries. In the year 1985 the Arab world consumed 3,3 kg of newspaper per 1000 inhabitants, while in the year 1995 this consumption fell to 2,7 kg. At the same time in Europe the consumption of newspaper rose from 55,7 kg up to 82,2 kg per 1000 inhabitants of the Old continent.
The flow of freethinking Arabic media from the West to the Arab states is due to the censorship almost impossible, with an exception of those financed by the middle-eastern regimes. Such an example is the daily newspaper Al Quds, published in London and promoting the ideas of Saddam Hussein and Yaser Arafat. The peoples of the Middle East thirst for independent media that are tolerating the diversity and are discussing the daily life of the citizens. The Saudi newspaper Al Watan, founded in 2000, was the first liberal newspaper in Saudi Arabia and has become a gathering point for the reformers that wish to fight the ideas of terrorism in the state, in which the teachings of Ibn Taimia (the father of the Wahabite movement) are the constitution of the state.
The editor-in-chief Jamal Khashogchije has after the bomb attacks in Riyadh in the editorial of the Al Watan wrote for the local circumstances a revolutionary article with a title »Is Ibn Taimia more important than the person and the homeland?« Khasogchi was on the 27th of May 2003 deposed! According to the opinion of the International Institute IFIMES the democratization of the Near East is a precondition for reforming the entire society and to finally settle accounts with the terrorism. Without a freedom of thought there is no reforms. American undersecretary for the Far East William Burns has on the 23rd of May 2003 named three elements that are:
Establishment and support of the civil society organizations;
Construction of the state of law and justice and fight against the corruption;
Transparent elections as an entry into the democratization of the country.
According to the opinion of the International Institute IFIMES, the U.S.A. is as the only superpower politically and before all morally obliged to act out the ideas that are being promoted. Therefore the U.S.A. has to use all the means (financial assistance, credits, isolation and selective punishment, etc.) to accomplish the goals that are in the interests of the peoples of the Middle East and the U.S.A. In such an atmosphere the U.S.A. will convince in their favor the masses and not the hated regimes, left from the cold war period.
